Hook and eye.



No. 635,529. Patent ed Oct. 24, I899.

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HOOK AND EYE.

(Applies-flan filed June 28, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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wire STATES IRVIN P. DOOLITTLE, OF TORONTO, CANADA.

HOOK AND EYE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 635,529, dated October 24, 1899.

Application filed crune'zs, 1898. Serial No. 684,206. (Nomorlel-J To rtZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRVIN P. DOOLITTLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at T0- ronto, in the county of York, in the Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, have invented newand useful Improvements in Hooks and Eyes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates generally to the garment-fastenings known as hooks and eyes, and more particularly to a hook and eye of the kind shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States No. 587,189, granted to me on the 27th day of July, 1897. v

The objects of my present invention are to improve the fastening with a view of facilitating the engagement of its parts and interlocking the same more securely, to provide the hook member with means for tightly fastening it to the garment, so as to prevent twisting thereof and also produce a neater joint, and to provide the eye member with neat and simple means for reliably sewing it to the garment.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a detached front view of the fastening, showing the parts interlocked. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary or inner view of the meeting portions of a garment provided with the fastening, showing the parts disengaged. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the garment, taken through the fastening and showing the parts interlocked. Fig. 4 is a vertical section in line 4 4, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detached front view of the eye member of the fastening.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

The hook member of the fastening is preferably bent up of a single piece of wire, and consists of a pair of elastic hooks a, arranged side by side and spread apart or separated at their bonds to form a space or aperture a, which receives the locking-head of the eye member, as in the Letters Patent hereinbefore referred to, the principal difference being that in the present construction the hooks and theirshanks are single, while in the patented construction they are double. The hooks are inclosed by a loop or bail a which is arranged substantially in the same plane as the shanks of the hooks and which forms an attachment for the hooks and also acts as twisting out of place, and it also forms an extensive attaching-base for the hooks,which holds the fabric against the same and causes the fabric to cover or conceal the hook and the eye members, thus producing a neat joint between the connected edges of the garment.

b is the bow or main portion of the eye member, and 1) its side members or branches. The bow b is provided midway between said side members with an inwardly-extending loop 19 forming a locking-head which interlocks with the duplex hook to of the other member of the fastening, as in the hook and eye of the Letters Patent hereinbefore referred to. a spear or arrow head and is provided at its widened inner end with abrupt shoulders b ,,forming stops which effectually prevent the hooks of the hook member from pushing backwardly and becoming disengaged from the locking-head. The pointed or tapering end of the spear-head b facilitates the entrance of the head into the aperture between the hooks a.

The eye members may be formed with the usual eyelets for stitching it to the garment, as shown in said Letters Patent; but its side members are preferably extended rearwardly in the form of straight legs, prongs, or branches 12 which penetrate the fabric and are secured against its inner side by a locking-plate O, as shown in Fig. 2. These legs are pointed so as to easily penetrate the fabric and are connected with the bow of the eye member by bends or indented portions b, which extend inwardly beyond the plane of the legs, these several parts being preferably bent from a single piece of Wire. The locking-plate 0 covers the legs I) and is provided near its front end with a pair of holes 0, through which the legs pass and which engage with the bends of the legs, these bends forming shoulders which lock the eye mem- This locking-head has the form of ber against longitudinal displacement on the locking-plate when the latter is parallel with the legs. The plate is provided with addi: tional holes 0', whereby it is stitched to the inner side of the fabric, thereby fastening the plate and the eye member to the fabric. In the construction shown in the drawings the plate has a single stitching-hole at its front end between the bends of the eye member, whereby the fabric is held away from the bow, and three such holes near its rear end; but these holes may be differently disposed, if desired. The side edges of the locking-plate are bent toward the fabric to form flanges 0 which overlap the legs of the eye member so as to inclose the same and form a neat finish, and the rear end of the plate extends to or beyond the pointed ends of the legs to protect the fingers of the wearer from injury. The legs of the eye member are offset inwardly beyond the plane of its bow to prevent crimping of the fabric, and the bow is preferably offset outwardly sufficiently to raise it above the face of the fabric, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to permit the hook member to be conveniently interlocked therewith without pressing against the fabric for this purpose. The portion of the eye member in rear of its bow or front portion is preferably contracted, and the bends or indented portions thereof are bent toward each other, so as to form a rearwardly-converging channel or throat in rear of the locking-head 19 as shown in Fig. 5. In engaging the members of the fastening this converging throat acts as a guide which centers the hooks of the hook memberin the eye member and directs the same toward the locking-head of the eye member, thereby facilitating the engagement of the members and requiring no special care on the part of the wearer in locking the same.

As the bends b diverge forwardly or toward the how they hold the fabric against the legs b and resist any tendency of the fabric to approach the inner side of the raised bow, thereby keeping the fabric away from the bow and permitting the hook member to be conveniently engaged therewith. In applyin g the eye member to the garment its pointed legs are passed through the fabric from the outer side of the garment and inserted far enough to bring the bends Z) on the rear side of the fabric, as shown in Fig. 3. The front holes of the locking-plate are then passed over the legs until they engage with the bends I2 and the plate is then stitched to the fab ric. In passing the plate over the legs the same is held at an angle thereto, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, and when the front end of the plate enters the bends of the legs the plate'is swung against the legs and parallel with the fabric.

In interlocking the parts of the fastening the hook is engaged with the eye by moving the parts lengthwise on each other in the manner of engaging an ordinary hook and eye. The parts are disconnected by simply turning them outwardly at an angle to each other, so as to cause the hooks of the hook member to be sprung apart by the neck of the locking-head carried by the eye member for releasing said head, as more fully described in the Letters Patent hereinbefore referred to. The portion of the loop a which extends beyond the hooks a forms a convenient finger-piece for disengaging the hook member from the eye member.

I claim as my invention 1. In a hook and eye, a hook member comprising an open elastic loop having the free end portions of its side bars extended inwardly between said side bars and arranged substantially parallel therewith, said end portions being arranged side by side and formed at their inner ends with laterallyyielding books which are separated by an aperture adapted to receive the head of an eye member, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a hook member provided with a pair of laterally-yielding hooks having their bends separated by an aperture, of an eye member having its bow provided with an inwardly-extending lockinghead adapted to enter said aperture, said locking-head having substantially the form of a spear-head and being provided at its wide rear end with abrupt shoulders or stops which confine said hooks in the eye member, substantially as set forth.

3. An eye member or similar fastening, comprising a bow or loop adapted to be located on the face side of the fabric, prongs or legs extending rearwardly from the loop and offset inwardly out of the plane of the same and adapted to penetrate the fabric and lie against the back thereof, and bends or shoulders connecting said loop with its prongs and extending inwardly substantially at right angles to the plane of the prongs, and a fastening-plate extending across the rear sides of said prongs and provided near its front end with openings which engage with said bends or shoulders, substantially as set forth.

Witness my hand this 2d day of May, 1898.

IRVIN P. DOOLITTLE.

'Witnesses:

CARL F. GEYER, JNo. J. BONNER. 

